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‘Abang Bas’ TikTok posts of schoolgirls raise major red flags, tougher social media rules needed
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6 — The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has been asked to cooperate with the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) in an investigation into a bus driver who uploaded videos and posted pictures of the children he was carrying through TikTok.
Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said MCMC as a technical agency has also been in contact with TikTok to perform data preservation to ensure that any information required by PDRM is obtained immediately.
“The content produced (by the bus driver) allows for comments and if we look closely they are quite troubling and we don’t know how many other accounts are similar to this account in TikTok.
“This is where I see that social media platforms need to cooperate more with the authorities and I believe the people are also with us in ensuring that children under the age of 13 should not have social media accounts,” he told reporters at the International Legal Conference on Threats Online 2024 at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.
Police today arrested a 24-year-old bus driver who uploaded a video and posted pictures of the children he was carrying on the bus in Simpang Renggam, Kluang, at 2.57 am and confiscated the mobile phone believed to be used by him for further investigation.
Fahmi said MCMC will also work with Bukit Aman D11 to help the police identify other parties who may be involved or suspected of committing any law violations in the country.
At the same time, he also warned teachers not to produce content that displays or broadcasts children’s faces because it is a violation of the law, particularly the Children’s Act 2001.
For that purpose, he will liaise with Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek to ensure that issues related to children are also understood by the teaching staff.
In addition, Fahmi said the platform’s code of conduct that is being developed is expected to be completed by the end of October or November, which serves as a guide to platform operators among other things regarding any form of violation.
“This code of conduct will ensure that any platform that wants to operate in Malaysia understands the existing regulatory and legal framework and that they can operate within the context as long as they do not violate the laws of this country,” he said.
Regarding the 2024 International Legal Conference on Online Threats, Fahmi hopes that it can be organised again in conjunction with Malaysia becoming the Chairman of Asean 2025.
He said, it takes into account many foreign countries that are starting to consider steps and actions that are felt to be in line with their respective social media regulatory and legal frameworks.
At the same time, he said that online threats require actions to examine existing laws to ensure that investigations by law enforcement agencies or punishments are appropriate, taking into account the factors of social media platforms that are constantly changing algorithms, in addition to the uncertainty of social media platforms that will be created in the future.
The two-day conference which started yesterday, was jointly organised by the Legal Affairs Division (BHEUU) of the Prime Minister’s Department, the Ministry of Communications and MCMC in collaboration with Unicef Malaysia, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) and Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam).
